1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a wheel and, more specifically, to such a wheel which includes ornamental spoke elements on an outer side thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although numerous wheels have heretofore been provided which include ornamental outer sides thereof, such wheels with a plurality of spoke elements continue to be aesthetically one of the more attractive and desirable designs. While some effort has been made to provide cast wheels which include simulated spoke elements, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,527, these wheels are generally less attractive and more difficult and expensive to provide.
Accordingly, actual wire spoke wheels, ones which include spokes which are load supporting, still remain attractive. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,993,357; 4,019,782; 4,226,479; and 4,339,859 disclose such spoke wheels but make it clear from their teaching that providing such heavy duty, load supporting spokes can be quite complicated and expensive.
Accordingly, some effort has been made to provide the aesthetic quality of such spoke wheels without actually requiring that the wheel itself be made with load supporting spoke members. Specifically, removable wire wheel covers such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,168,016; 4,178,043; 4,221,436; and 4,229,048 have the advantage of providing the same aesthetic features without the structural complications required for real spoke wheels. However, such wire wheel covers have some inherent disadvantages. Specifically, since the cover is added to the wheel, there are problems with their accidental or intentional removal from the wheel resulting in a considerable loss to the owner. Although there are a number of means offered for preventing the unintentioanl removal of wire wheel covers, the cover generally must be removed for removing the wheel from the vehicle and removable security devices tend to add to the overall cost of the wire wheel covers.
Consequently, there are a number of wheel structures which include spoke elements which are not actual load bearing members. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,180,293; 4,226,478; and 4,385,785 disclose wheels which have a basic load supporting wheel portion with ornamental, non-load supporting spoke elements added thereto. While these wheels have the ornamental advantage of including spokes and the structural advantage of not requiring the spokes to be load supporting, they do include quite complicated and elaborate means for forming the wheel and securing the spokes thereto. As a result, there remains a need for providing a method of forming such a wheel which has a plurality of ornamental spoke elements on an outer side thereof which is relatively inexpensive and simple to provide.